Creamy & Tangy Alabama White Barbecue Sauce
Alabama White Barbecue Sauce is a regional specialty that has received national acclaim for good reason! Uniquely sweet yet tangy, this sauce takes just 5 minutes to make and tastes great on everything from juicy grilled chicken and pulled pork to crispy French fries. Let me show you how to make it for yourself at home. One bite and you’ll be serving it with every meal!
A Quick Look At The Recipe
- Recipe Name: Alabama White Barbecue Sauce
- Ready In: 5 minutes
- Serves: 4
- Main Ingredients: mayonnaise, salt, black pepper, white vinegar, lemon juice, white sugar
- Why You'll Love It: Uniquely sweet yet tangy, serve this homemade recipe for nationally-acclaimed Alabama white barbecue sauce with main meat dishes and sides.
The Sweet & Tangy Sauce You’ll Put on Everything
Today, I’m bringing you a real rarity. In fact, it is pretty much unheard of outside of North Alabama. Even my husband (who is from a town in Georgia only four hours away) had never heard of it. A lot of folks in South Alabama have never heard of it.
I’m talking about Alabama white BBQ sauce. This is truly a regional thing, but also… a regional requirement. You’ll find white BBQ sauce on every menu, table, and piece of meat at every BBQ joint in North Alabama. Locals eat it with everything, from French fries and juicy smash burgers to chicken and tender BBQ ribs. My husband loves to smother his chicken with this stuff, and personally, I like to use so much that my food is always swimming in it!
This homemade white BBQ sauce has a uniquely sweet yet tangy flavor, thanks to the combination of mayonnaise, lemon juice, white vinegar, and sugar. Let me tell you, it truly is the perfect compliment to just about everything.
Reader Rating
“I’m an Alabama girl through and through, and I’ve got news for you. THIS IS FANTASTIC. No need for additional ingredients. It’s as good as any white BBQ sauce I’ve ever had. THANK YOU!!!” – Jenna
Recipe Ingredients
- Mayonnaise
- Black pepper
- Salt
- Lemon juice
- White vinegar (apple cider vinegar can be used as a substitute, or a mix!)
- Sugar (you can also use brown sugar, or a mix of both)
Mix It Up: Your Sauce, Your Rules!
- Horseradish: For a classic twist, add a couple of teaspoons of prepared horseradish.
- Mustard: Add 2 teaspoons of yellow, dijon, spicy brown, or Creole mustard for a tangy kick.
- Seasoning: For an extra pop of flavor, add 1/2 teaspoon of Cajun or Old Bay seasoning.
- Lighter Version: Replace half the mayo with sour cream or Greek yogurt to make a lighter sauce without changing the taste.
- Make it Spicy: For some heat, use hot horseradish, 1/2 teaspoon of hot sauce, and 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper.
How to Make Alabama White Barbecue Sauce
To start, add your mayonnaise to a mason jar or small bowl. Then add the salt and pepper.
Next, add the sugar, vinegar, and lemon juice.
Mix all ingredients together with a whisk. Or if you’re using a mason jar with a lid, you can just give it a really good shake!
That’s all there is to it – you have just made Alabama white barbecue sauce!
Before you go wow your friends, get a French fry or a piece of chicken and give it a good dunking so you can be the first to taste it. YUM!
I could just live on this y’all, honest!
Storage
Pop the sauce in a mason jar or an airtight container and store it in the fridge for up to 4 days. But we all know it’s not gonna last that long! Luckily, it only takes 5 minutes to whip up another batch (or you can always simply double the recipe).
Alabama White Barbecue Sauce FAQs
Alabama white BBQ sauce is creamy and tangy with a good peppery kick. I make mine with a mayonnaise-and-vinegar base, so it starts off rich and cool. Then you get this sharp, zesty punch from the lemon juice and black pepper that just keeps you coming back for more. It’s truly one-of-a-kind!
Alabama white BBQ sauce originated in Decatur, Alabama. We have Robert “Big Bob” Gibson, founder of Big Bob Gibson’s Bar-B-Q, to thank for creating this unique sauce way back in 1925!
Alabama white sauce tastes fantastic with any grilled or barbecued meat, like this North Alabama-style pulled chicken, pan-seared pork chops, roasted beef brisket, crockpot beef ribs, and air fryer chicken wings. You can baste it on the meat two or three times towards the end of cooking, or simply pour it over the top when serving.
It also tastes great as a dipping sauce with fries and veggies, like my baked zucchini fries, parmesan oven fries, and roasted sweet potato wedges. Another option is to use it as a salad dressing. It tastes absolutely amazing with potato salad, coleslaw, and roasted vegetables!
From my kitchen to yours, I hope you enjoyed this recipe. Let me know by leaving a comment and a star rating!
Ingredients
- 2 cups mayonnaise
- 1 ½ tablespoons salt
- 2 tablespoons black pepper
- 6 tablespoons white vinegar
- 6 tablespoons lemon juice
- 4 tablespoons white sugar
Instructions
- Mix all ingredients together and stir well.2 cups mayonnaise, 1 ½ tablespoons salt, 2 tablespoons black pepper, 6 tablespoons white vinegar, 6 tablespoons lemon juice, 4 tablespoons white sugar
Notes
- If you don’t have white vinegar, apple cider vinegar can be used as a substitute, or a mix of them together.
- You can also swap white sugar for brown sugar, or use a combination of the two!
Nutrition
Christy, this sauce sounds so yummy. I would use either the vinegar OR lemon juice, not both, just a personal thing in sour. LOL! Here is my recipe for Horseradish Sauce that I found online and kinda tweeted it. I had it with roast beef at a wedding rehearsal and asked one of the workers how it was made and found this recipe. Theirs was so yummy with the beef. Not over powering with the horseradish either. Not into spicy food. Delicious on beef! I can imagine it with chicken fingers, fries, fried mushrooms, etc. Give it a try.
Horseradish Sauce
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tsp – 2 tablespoons prepared horseradish
1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp. hot sauce or to taste (optional)
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp – 1 tablespoon dill weed or to taste
Pinch of paprika (optional)
If substituting the flour, butter, milk and salt for the sour cream, cook till thick in the microwave. Cool mixture and add to rest of ingredients.
Mix together and let sit several hours to develop flavors and serve with beef, fish, pork or chicken or deep fried veggies or mushrooms.
Try it, I think you will like it. Want to try your white BBQ sauce. Thanks for posting this and so many yummy recipes, Christy.
Linda
I have had this sauce mixed in potato salad. It was fantastic. thanks for the recipe.
Christy,
Thanks for the recipe, I have tried to make it, but didn’t have a recipe to go by. We have a BBQ place where we moved from, Bank’s BBQ in Haleyville, Alabama, they have the best white BBQ sauce!!! Yummy!!! I use to buy it by the pint and I love it for salad dressing, have never used it on slaw. I am not a fan of slaw, except vinegar slaw that Bank’s put on your sandwich. Will be waiting for your recipe for vinegar slaw.
Have a wonderful 4th of July!!
XOXOXO, Maryanna
I LOVE White BBQ sauce. I get it around here in north florida at a BBQ joint. They make HUGE baked potatoes and load them with butter, sour cream, pulled pork, shredded cheese and green onions and the white bbq sauce to pour over it. YUM!!! I never had a recipe for it. I think I’ll try it but I have a question, Christy! I assume you have to refrigerate this because of the mayo, but do you know how long it will last in the fridge???
We’ve used the white barbecue sauce for years. We bake chicken breasts in the oven for about 45 minutes, then put them on the grill and baste them with the sauce long enough for them to get that smokey flavor and a good glaze on them. We serve the remaining sauce along side.
Just checked out your website tonight and cannot wait to purchase your cook book for a newly married niece!! When I saw recipes for fatback, collard greens, and fried potatoes I almost fell out of my chair girl. Throw in some pintos or field peas and the feast is on!
I keep a container of white sauce in the fridge at all times. It is wonderful on baked in the oven pork loin. Or many nights when I need a quick supper I bake a couple of chicken breast in the oven (or you can nuke them) then we have a bowl of white sauce to “sop” them in!
YEP !!!!!! JUS” LIKE YOU SAID !!! WE EAT THIS SAUCE ON EVERY THANG !!!! YUMMY !!!
THANKS FOR THE RECIPE
WILL BE TRYING YOUR ZUCCHINI BREAD THIS AFTER NOON TOO..
JUS” LOVE , LOVE SOUTHERN PLATE SITE !!
Thanks for the recipe. We lived for years just off County Line Rd. and were frequent customers at Greenbriers (the old one). We now live in Portland, Oregon and Greenbrier’s is one of the things I miss the most. We recently cooked up a bunch of pulled pork and with the white sauce and some cole slaw it brought back some good memories. I still haven’t found decent hush puppies here though. Thanks again.
Thanks Kristy,
we live in Niagara Falls, Canada, my husband found your recipe and we are going to ry it tonigh on fish, looking forward to the sauce after all the ravings, now we have the craving, thnks for sharing.